


Coming Home

by carolinecrane



Category: Deadliest Catch RPF
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-30
Updated: 2010-09-30
Packaged: 2017-10-12 07:57:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/122652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carolinecrane/pseuds/carolinecrane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Define 'family'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coming Home

Jake doesn't make it back for the end of Opi season. No one really expects him to, but he still feels pretty bad about it. Sig's called to check up on him once or twice, and his family talks to Nick pretty regularly, but other than that he hasn't spoken to any of the guys since they put him on the skiff in the middle of the Bering Sea and sent him home.

So it's kind of weird, seeing them all again for "After the Catch", shaking hands with the rest of the crew and knowing by the looks on their faces that they're all expecting him to start crying again. And he sort of feels like it, but he's done plenty of that lately, so he sucks it up and pastes a grin on his face.

"Hey," he says when Edgar slaps him on the back just a little too hard, "how's it going?"

"You know, same old," Edgar says. "How you doing?"

Jake nods kind of spastically, then catches himself and shoves his hands in his pockets. "I'm okay. My dad's taking it really hard."

Edgar nods and glances over Jake's shoulder like he's not sure what to say, but before he has a chance to figure it out Sig appears next to them.

"Hey," Sig says, ignoring Edgar to focus on Jake. "You sure you're ready for this?"

Jake nods again, blinks a couple times for good measure and takes his hands back out of his pockets. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm good."

They all know what's coming; Ben's going to ask Jake a bunch of questions about his sister, about his family and how hard it was to be out on a crab boat when he got the news. But the truth is that it was probably the best place to be, other than at home with his sister, because when he's on the boat he's with his family. Maybe not the family that knew his sister and loved her, but they all love him, and that's good enough.

One of the production assistants hustles toward them, a clipboard gripped in one hand and one of those bluetooth things stuck in his ear. " _Northwestern_ crew, you're up," he says. "Sig and Edgar first. Jake, they'll call you after the first break."

He takes off again before he even stops talking, and Jake shakes his head at the guy. They spend so much time talking about how hard crab fishing is, but he's pretty sure he'd rather fish than have to do that guy's job.

"Here goes nothing," Sig says, hand on Jake's shoulder and squeezing, just for a second. "You'll do fine, kid," he says, mouth open for a second like he wants to say something else. The he closes it again, shaking his head and glancing at Edgar. "Ready?"

Edgar nods and slaps Jake on the back again, nearly knocking him off balance. "Don't worry, Sig told them to go easy on you," he says, not quite meeting Jake's gaze. A second later they're both walking away, leaving Jake to grin at their backs. He knows as soon as they all get back to Dutch the guys will be just as hard on him as ever, but he can handle it. After all, that's what family's for.


End file.
